DAY 7

The Praetorian corpses are disinterred and returned, with full military honors. The first 21-gun salute in the history of the world is fired. Augustus Caesar stands at attention. It takes all of Colonel Nelson's training and experience to stop him from staring.

After a brief breakfast, Augustus tours Wonderland. He is given the honors due a visiting head of state. He glances over the machines with a studiously cool eye. Only the slightest quickening of breath betrays his excitement when he sees the helicopters.

Nelson admires the Imperator's reserve. He suppresses a smile once, when Augustus betrays shock - at the sight of Lieutenant Chou, next to Sergeant Guntersen and Private Gomez, all standing at attention. Augustus's eyes slide over to measure Nelson, and Nelson hopes he misses the moment of levity.

Nelson realizes that these men frighten Augustus more than any machine. They speak of an empire vaster than his own. Augustus can imagine the threat posed by a helicopter. An invisible empire whose subjects come from across the earth, its interpreters jostling with his own in fragments of two dozen languages... Nelson regrets his decision to allow the tour, even if he has presented himself as an apologetic and accidental guest on Roman land. He has not given Augustus reason to respect the Marines as dutiful fighting men. He has given Augustus reason to annihilate them.

Augustus makes excuses and cuts the visit short. Nelson hides his fear behind a stony exterior. Murena summons the conspirators again that evening. They talk, and now Murena urges them to action.

By night, a cloaked figure approaches the Praetorian camp. Whispered signs are exchanged. The figure is ushered into the presence of Augustus. He details Murena's plan.

Augustus glowers. He dismisses the informer.

He does nothing.

 

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DAY 7, PART 2

Corporal Alvin McCandless is sitting in a quiet area, behind a machine shop. He has just finished a 12-hour shift sifting piles of salvaged electronics and wiring; the rank he’d worked to gain for two years was gone. He smokes a cigarette. With a dexterity that speaks of practice, he strips out the filter and carefully gathers the last shreds of tobacco, tapping them into a wrinkled Ziploc bag. He closes his eyes. He smells grease, and then coffee, and drifting from the east, roasting eel; improvised fishing poles had appeared everywhere in the first days after the Landing.

“Now that smells great, doesn’t it?” McCandless snaps to attention.

Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Nehmen walks up next to him.

“Sir!”

“At ease.” McCandless moves to parade rest. Nehmen chuckles. “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled fish that good. Must be used to pollution. Hell, maybe there was something to that global warming bullprofanity after all.”

“Sir, if you believe so, sir.”

Nehmen nods, still smiling. “Sergeant, I wanted to talk to you a bit about the incident on the 18th. I’ve seen the draft of your after-action report. Now – the judgment on your actions stands. Don’t mistake that. You’re reduced in rank and that’s that.” McCandless is nervous – this is strange, somehow stranger than shooting Roman soldiers down. The commanding officer of the MEU’s ground combat unit shouldn’t be lurking like this: one of Colonel Nelson’s top officers talking to a busted sergeant.

Nehmen is watching McCandless carefully. He nods again. “There are wider considerations here, though. And your report – while it describes the action closely enough, it – well, it fails as an analysis. The action presents opportunities and dangers on a strategic level.” Nehmen fixes McCandless with a stare. “On a historical level.” He points. “You opened fire on the Roman Empire. And that’s created danger for all of us. But it has also created an opportunity. For all of us … and for you.”

McCandless is still staring straight ahead. Sweat is breaking out on his forehead. He ignores the mosquitoes gathering on his motionless arms.

Nehmen nods again, decisively. “The day will come, Corporal, when there will be advantages to being the first man on the trigger. You remember that. Dismissed.”

McCandless salutes crisply and walks off. Nehmen watches his receding form carefully before he turns on his heel. An ambassador is coming. Nehmen has planning to do.


and that's where he ends it, at the request of the production studio

 

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they learn how to fight with a bayonet in bootcamp. plus marines attend MCT which is advanced combat training right after bootcamp.
what so different with a rifle equipped with a bayonet and a spear?

plus I am sure somebody knows how to reload ammo.
also gun powder isnt hard to make if you know the recipe for it and lead was common in Rome because they used it on everything including food and drinks.

just gotta pick up your brass.


even a muzzle loader would wtf pwn a Roman soldier.

 

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You seriously werent in the military were you...


A bayonet is not even close to the same thing as a sword, they also do not train like the legions did against a shield. They dont train the same kind of tactics. Its not even remotely in the same realm of the same.


Maybe they could set up a oil refinery too, in your magical unit. I'm sure someone knows how to refine oil too right? Is there a atomic physicist in this group as well? I'm sure there is, so they probably oculd just make nukes.

 

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you think all humans are stupid dont you?
just the knowledge of the future tech/timeline makes these people gods in this time.

 

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Well, the Marines could probably garner some support from Germanic tribes and the Gauls, who were still hostile toward Rome at the time. It would have taken a year to get troops back to Rome to fight. And let's not forget they had just gone through a civil war, not everyone in Rome was pleased with the result. Some people who still commanded legions would probably see this as an opportunity to kick Augustus in the ass.

Also remember Rome has pretty much pissed off their whole known world by invading and conquering almost every neighboring country they could touch. They had to maintain legions in these occupied lands otherwise, they are no longer Roman.

 

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its funny that A, you keep leaving important tidbits out of your bolding like this..


But he doesn't have that much of any of these things. The 35th MEU was going to be dependent on a vast logistical pipeline from the first day of its deployment. He commanded one of the most powerful, terrifying forces in the world - especially in what appeared to be its new (old?) world - but it was one with a short half-life.


and B) you dont seem to understand that the guy writing this is not in the military, you do know thats made up right and not even close to realistic? This is all movie material...


Do you have any idea how much fuel a years worth of octane is for a Humvee? Let alone for Abrams, Helicopters, etc etc... That figure is movie material, not real life material. You were in the military I thought, you do know this right?

 

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While I think the whole point is moot, because the US Marines would never "attack Rome" just defend themselves against aggressors...


One thing you forget about Marines is that they adapt quickly.


Gasoline would be the least of their worries. Getting the vehicles to the walls of Rome would be the limit of the fuel consumption.


Lots of Marine snipers make their own rounds. It could easily be trained and "mass produced". Once Rome is captured (Which is the easy part), the Romans could be enslaved to take over this process. (Enslaved may be a bad word, many Romans would indeed feel that the Marines were in fact some sort of rightful rulers)


The amount of powder in the helicopter, tank, and heavy infantry weapons could sustain the small arms of the Marines for months after their initial ammo supplies are depleted. Black powder did exist in Roman times.


I think the biggest issue is numbers. One major engagement would see at least one modern day weapon captured. It wouldn't take long for these weapons to be reverse engineered, or at the very least, the concept figured out. In a rather short period of time, you'd see the Romans wielding some form of chemical projectile weapons. While they'd never combat the effectiveness of a tank or body armor, the Marines themselves would be whittled down in rather short order by a quarter of a million Roman soldiers.

 

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